Bush embraces idea of Palestinian state

John DiamondChicago Tribune Washington Bureau

President Bush for the first time endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state Tuesday, but he said the concept has always been part of the administration's Mideast strategy so long as Israel's right to peace and security are preserved.

"But first things first," Bush said, emphasizing that the year of violence between Palestinians and Israelis must end before peace talks can begin.

Israelis reacted warily, reiterating concerns that Palestinians not be rewarded for violence such as Tuesday's attack on a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip that killed two teen-agers. Some Palestinians called Bush's remark highly significant while others dismissed it as nothing new.

The administration appeared to be walking a delicate line between reassuring Israel on one hand and responding to Arab allies' concerns on the other.

Moderate Arab states are key to Bush's attempts to win support in the Middle East for an expected military campaign against Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left Tuesday evening to meet with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt as well as Uzbekistan, a Central Asian neighbor of Afghanistan and potentially a springboard for U.S. military action.

Although a Mideast peace process resulting in a Palestinian state has long been a basic element of U.S. policy, under Bush it had been an unspoken element until Tuesday, when he said "the idea of a Palestinian state has always been a part of a vision, so long as the right of Israel to exist is respected."

Healing an old wound

The administration's willingness to openly address the policy appeared to be an answer to growing international concern that the war on terrorism cannot be won if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is allowed to fester.

"We are always reviewing what we can do, how we can make our statements clearer," said Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Powell and Bush downplayed news reports that the White House had been on the verge of a major Mideast peace initiative only to have it scotched by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, allegedly planned by bin Laden and his Al Qaeda group.

Instead, Bush said the administration holds to the view that the Middle East peace process must move forward in small steps.

"I fully understand that progress is made in centimeters in the Middle East, and we believe we're making some progress," the president said.

The importance of Bush's acknowledgement of Palestinian statehood was not lost on at least some Palestinians and their allies in Washington.

"I view it as a very significant statement," said Ed Abington, a Washington adviser to the Palestinian Authority.

"It's not new," said Hassan Abdel Rahman, Washington representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization. "Even Israel does not oppose a Palestinian state, so I don't think that's an issue."

Powell, who spoke to reporters Tuesday outside the State Department after meeting India's foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, said: "As the president said this morning, there has always been a vision in our thinking, as well as in previous administrations' thinking, that there would be a Palestinian state that would exist at the same time that the security of the state of Israel was also recognized, guaranteed and accepted by all parties.

"The events of Sept. 11 don't really play into this," he said. "We were hard at work before Sept. 11 on trying to help in the region, and we are hard at work after Sept. 11."

However, diplomatic sources in Washington and overseas said the administration was planning a major policy unveiling but shelved it after the terror attacks.

Internal discord

Key advisers to Bush, particularly Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy, have argued internally against any major concessions to the Palestinians now.

To do so, they say, could be seen as a concession to Islamic terrorists who charge unfair U.S. treatment of the Palestinians among their grievances.

Other Bush advisers, particularly Powell, have argued that now especially is the time for bold moves in the Middle East peace process.

According to this view, reassuring moves toward the Palestinians, including public acknowledgement of the statehood issue and a much sought-after meeting between Bush and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, would help build the Arab coalition the president is seeking in the war on terrorism.

European allies have raised this point repeatedly in meetings with Bush administration officials, according to these diplomatic sources.

Bush's comments on Palestinian statehood came just after the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the current Palestinian intifada, a street uprising aimed largely at Israeli settlements and the troops that guard them.

Sparking the intifada

The intifada began after Israeli conservative leader, now prime minister, Ariel Sharon visited a site in Jerusalem holy to both Jews and Muslims, enraging Muslims who considered the visit a belligerent encroachment.

Sharon's visit came just after the collapse of peace negotiations at Camp David brokered by then-President Bill Clinton. Months later, Sharon was overwhelmingly elected prime minister, ousting Ehud Barak, who had staked his position on attaining peace.

Within the stalled Middle East peace process, the statehood issue has been taken as a given. The obstacles concern precisely how large the new Palestinian state would be, whether certain Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza would be allowed to remain under Israeli control and how much of Jerusalem, if any, the Palestinians would get.

On Tuesday, Sharon's aides were downplaying any concerns over Bush's statements, eager to look like they were on the same page as the Americans.

"We're in close contact with the Americans and we both see the need first to stop the violence," said Danny Ayalon, Sharon's chief foreign policy adviser.

Worry about perception

Gerald Steinberg, a political analyst at Bar-Ilan University, did voice the concern that Bush's remarks would be seen as a reward to the Palestinians.

"Although the president couched it in careful language, the context of this declaration ... certainly appears to be a reward for Palestinian violence," Steinberg said.

"It increases the concern in Israel that Israelis are paying the price for this campaign against terrorism," he added.